So I pulled some strings… Tapped into my network… Hollered at some of my people and was able to get in touch with 4 historically significant people to give some graduation advice. Watch the video to see what I mean.

Ok ok ok, so maybe I played all of the parts in the video. I know right? I am a master of disguises. And accents.

Anyway…

You’re graduating. Congratulations! Do realize what that means? It means from here, right now, you must decide. Nobody else can do it for you. What will you have? Where will you go? What will you do? Who will you be?

I have seen it happen too many times. Students who are getting ready to graduate. They have all of these amazing ideas about what they will do, how they will conquer the world and do something that has never been done before but then something happens. They spend their first summer doing the same things they’ve done every summer before that. That slowly becomes the fall, where they do the same ting they’ve done every other fall. Eventually, they forget about the things they used to want to have and the places they used to want to go.

You are standing at the beginning of an incredible adventure where you get decide every part. Are you going to stand around and do the same things you’ve always done? or are you going to carve your own path? Find your own way? and Make Your Own Lunch?

Nobody else can decide this for you.

I hope that you take some time and plan what your future will look like. Decide that it’s realistic for you to have and then decide to get it, no exceptions.

You have spent the past few years to make it here, for this moment where you get to decide, for yourself, what you will do with your life.

Decide. Decide to Make Your Own Lunch.

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Distractions. Everybody has them. Of course you can’t control certain distractions, like when the ice cream truck drives by your house when you should be doing something more important and you find yourself chasing it for 36 minutes to order that clever popsicle shaped like a baseball glove with a baseball gumball strategically placed in the middle.

Am I right?… No? Let’s continue.

The problem is people end up looking for distractions. They sit down to do homework or finish something else important and they end up logging onto Facebook or YouTube and 3 hours later they are looking at prom pictures from somebody they’ve never met and watching videos of fat puppies that can’t roll over.

Distractions will always be there. These distraction are keeping you from more important stuff. They are keeping you from the stuff you want to have, the places you want to go the things you want to do and the person you want to be.

If you decide to do something, do it. Do it until it’s done. Put all your effort into getting it done, then relax.

I’m not saying YouTube and Facebook are bad. I use both. Look above for evidence. I check Facebook almost daily. I use Twitter. I still have a MySpace account and I get hundreds of emails every week that I personally respond to. Use these things. Enjoy the fact that you have access to all of this stuff. Don’t let it take over your life. Don’t let it keep you from what you really want.

Decide what you will let distract you and decide when you will allow yourself to be distracted. You have that control.

Now excuse me, I have a few Epic Fail videos I need to watch.

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People are lazy. Really.

What I mean is, people are always trying to find easy ways to do stuff. They buy a bunch of products from infomercials to make their lives easier, use the contraption one time and then put it in the closet with their Snuggie, Magic Bullet and Slap-Chop.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying these inventions aren’t great. I personally own a Magic Bullet and use it every single morning. And let me tell you, it is indeed magical.

BUT are you one of those people? One of those people who sit around dreaming of stuff you want to do, places you want to go, things you want to have or the person you want to become and never get off the sofa to get those things?

It’s super important to dream. To see the things you want to have but it’s almost even more important to take action. To start taking the steps towards those things. If not, you will join the masses of miserable people who eventually stop dreaming because “none of their dreams come true”.

Living the life that you want to live isn’t luck. It’s a decision. It’s the decision to have those things, it’s deciding that it’s realistic, it’s deciding to cut off every other option until you have it and it’s the decision to take action… To take action now.

What are you waiting for??

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Make Your Own Lunch TV: Episode 005 from Ryan Porter on Vimeo.

Destiny. Do you believe in it?

There are too many people who leave their lives up to destiny. They say things like, “it will happened if it’s destined to be.” or when they don’t get something they wanted they make themselves feel better by saying “I guess it wasn’t my destiny.”

The people who have what they want have it because they decided to. The people who live the lives they dream about are living that way because they took action. They didn’t wait for destiny to give them what they wanted.

Make Your Own Lunch is all about carving your own path, living life on your terms and creating your own destiny.

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Kestin Cornwall, Owner and Founder of eLLIPTIC Clothing and we talked about creating your own destiny.

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Make Your Own Lunch TV: Episode 004 from Ryan Porter on Vimeo.

There are a ton of people out there who completely live for the weekend. They spend the first half of their week talking about last weekend and the rest of the week talking about next weekend… and that’s because most people don’t love what they’re doing.

They are working in jobs that they aren’t passionate about or are studying programs at school that they have no interest in whatsoever.

One of the things that every person I have interviewed has in common is that they all love what they do. It’s hard work, a lot of hard work but they don’t mind working their butts off because it’s doing stuff that they love.

Find what you love and then find a way to do THAT.

I am not trying to make it sound easy. It’s not. It takes hard work, heart break, setbacks, failure and more hard work but the payoff is better than you can imagine.

This week I hung out with one of Canada’s fastest rising photographers Jaime Hogge. He is completely passionate about his work and shared some insight into how he became a photographer and what he thinks about doing something you love.

“That’s how you know when you are really doing something you should be doing… when you want to do it all of the time.” – Jaime Hogge

For more on Jaime, visit www.jaimehogge.com

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Make Your Own Lunch TV: Episode 002 from Ryan Porter on Vimeo.

This week I got to sit down with Abby Tobias from Sole Power Productions, a mega-entertainment company based in Toronto, Canada, to talk about how he got from high school to where is now. Which is borderline world domination.

He had some amazing stories and awesome insight but the thing that stuck with me the most from talk with Abby was when he said, “I walked into a place for something and got something totally different.”

He didn’t have all the answers from the beginning. He knew where he was and he had an idea of where he wanted to end up, so he started moving in that direction. Now he is living the life he wants to be living and having a bunch of ridiculous experiences along the way.

You know where you are. Figure out where you want to be and start heading in that direction. As I learned from Abby, you don’t always have to know every step, you just need to keep moving.

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Starting from today, I will be uploading a new episode almost every Sunday.

There will be funny episodes, awkward episodes, serious episodes and episodes that will make you wonder why my mom allows me out in public.

Make sure to leave your comments on the video and share it!

PS If you want to make my dad as happy as he gets when he sees the free samples at Costco on a Saturday afternoon, join the MYOL Facebook group here -> www.facebook.com/makeyourownlunch

PPS Make sure to send these videos to your advisors/teachers/principals and World of Warcraft Guild

Here’s Part II, enjoy!

PART TWO

Decision 2: Decide where you will go.

When I talk about the school year, I am not only talking about the time you are in the classroom. I am talking about from the first day of school until your last day of exams. This includes your weekends, evenings and holidays.

Where do you want to go this year?

Think about taking a road trip with some of your best friends. Maybe you could take a graduation trip to Europe or a spring break trip to a different city nearby. Why don’t you jump on the bus and go visit your grandparents in Chicago or uncle in Seattle. Get together with your friends one weekend, go stay in the city and volunteer for a group that builds houses for low-income families. Go to a state/provincial leadership conference to meet new people and get revved up for whatever club you belong to.

Decide to go somewhere.

It’s so important to get away during the school year. Taking a little weekend trip or spring break adventure can help rejuvenate you and help get you refocused on the things you are working towards. These trips can give you opportunities and experiences that you wouldn’t get anywhere else. Depending on where you go and what you do, it could be something you are able to flaunt on your resume or college application.

These trips have the potential to completely change your perspective.

Decide now, where you will go this year.

Decision 3: Decide what you will do.

Will you try out for the basketball team? Will you run for student council president? Are you going to study Spanish or enter the dance competition?

How will you leave your mark on this year?

School has so many opportunities for you to get involved. There is something for everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re quiet, loud, artistic, technical, creative or organized, there’s something for you to do, some way you can us your skills and passion to do something cool.

Push yourself to go outside of your comfort zone a little. If you are deathly afraid of public speaking, maybe running for student council president isn’t for you. But you could always volunteer for the prom committee, where you may have to present an idea to a small group of your peers.

Decide to do something.

So many people go through high school without contributing. And by not contributing to your school, community or your future you are robbing yourself of experiences that could change the path of your future.

Decision 4: Decide who you will be.

This is the most important decision you could make.

When I moved to Japan, I had the opportunity to be whoever I wanted to be. Nobody knew me. I could’ve walked in my office on day one and been as cool as Jay-Z, as loud as Dane Cook or as personable as Ellen. I got to decide who I would be and how I acted and that in turn would affect how I was treated and remembered.

This school year, you get to decide who you will be. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t a leader last year, you can be one this year. If you were introverted and quiet last year, you can be more outgoing this year. If you were rude and obnoxious, you can decide to be polite and helpful. You can be whoever you want to be. I am not telling you to be a fake, I am telling you to be who you want to be.

Every school year (actually, every minute of every day) you get to reinvent yourself as the person you want to be.

Decide now, who you will be this year, then, be that person.

Leaving the school year up to chance or destiny is lazy. The only way you are going to have a great year, is by deciding to have a great year. The only way you are going to get what you want, go where you want, do what you want and be who you want, is by deciding and cutting off every option until you do.

Decide now to make this year the best year possible. Don’t do it for me, do it for Neo.

Neo, any final thoughts?

My name is Neo

Umm thanks…

You were right. It was inevitable.

It’s never fun saying good-bye to summer. You had a great time. Maybe you went to the cottage, or maybe you traveled abroad. You probably had a family BBQ where you had to tell your grandma that you actually liked her potato salad even though she mistook onions for potatoes and mothballs for eggs.

Whatever you did this summer, chances are, it was a good one. Summer usually is.

That brings us here. September. Not only is it the month that Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Hilary Duff, Keanu Reeves and Dr. Phil were born in, it’s usually the month that school starts.

We all know Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix Trilogy and since he was born in the month that school starts, I decided to ask Neo if he had any advice for this upcoming year.

Hey Neo, any advice for people starting a new school year?

I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid… afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.

Wow, that’s deep. Isn’t that a quote from The Matrix?

I know kung fu.

That actually doesn’t make any sense at all.

Okey dokey… Free my mind. Right, no problem, free my mind, free my mind, no problem, right…

Ok, now you’re just quoting random lines from The Matrix and this isn’t working how I thought it would. Thanks for nothing Neo.

I’ll take it from here.

This year is your year. You get to decide what kind of year you are going to have. If you had a crappy year last year, you can make this one better. If you didn’t make many friends, you can change that now. If you weren’t as involved as you’d like to be, this year you can be as involved as you want.

There’s one thing you need to do to make this year the best year ever… decide.

Decide this year will be different. Decide that you will get involved. Decide that you will try-out for the team or audition for the lead role. Decide to volunteer for an awesome organization or decide to put your photography skills on display for the yearbook committee.

There are four decisions you can make, right now, that will help this year will be the most awesome school year of your life.

Decision 1: Decide what you will have

What do you want to have this year? Do you want 90% in your chemistry class? Do you want a new group of friends? Do you want a sick part-time job to help you pay for University?  Do you want the reputation of being a leader?

What are the physical and measureable things you want this year? Decide now. Don’t talk yourself out of the things you want. Don’t tell yourself that these things aren’t realistic. Set the bar high.

There’s no magic wand to wave to get the stuff that you want. There’s only decision. The decision to have something, the decision that it’s realistic to have and the decision to start now.

Once you’ve made the decision, stick to it. Cut off every other option until you have these things. Decide how you will stay focused. Decide what you will sacrifice to have these things. Decide that you will not lose focus until you have them.

Decide.

PART TWO COMING SOON…

One of the best parts about traveling across the continent speaking to tens of thousands of students is getting to meet the other awesome speakers.

A good speaker friend of mine, Grant Baldwin, is the Master Jedi of showing young people how to make, save and invest their money. He’s even showing teens how to go to college for FREE! I reached out to Grant to help you figure out to do with all the cash you are making at your new part-time job!

Here’s what he had to say:

So you landed that part-time dream job huh?  The gig fits within your schedule, you get to work with friends, they pay you in a real currency (not Monopoly money), and you’re not having to scrub toilets with your toothbrush.  Pretty cool…congrats!  But we all know the fun part isn’t the work.  Sure, it’s not a bad job, but you’re not working for free.  You’re working to get paid…can I get an AMEN?!

One of the most glorious feelings in the world is getting that first paycheck.  It ranks right up there with meeting Oprah (for Ryan that is) or finding a pot o’ gold at the end of a rainbow…and maybe a bowl of Lucky Charms too.  The natural desire is to go out and spend every dime of that hard-earned money, but is that really the best thing to do?  I’m sure you know it’s not.  There are basically three things you can do with your money, and you should have balance with all three: spend, save, and share.

Of course, your favorite is probably the spending part.  Nothing wrong with that, but you have two more pieces of the pie as well.  You should be saving some of your money.  Saving for college, a new car, your retirement, or even just for a rainy day when an emergency might happen.  And finally, you should share or give some of that money away.  Money isn’t just for piling up and feeling loaded.  Part of the responsibility of having money is to help others who are less fortunate than you.

As you get older and your life circumstances start to change, how each piece of this pie breaks down may look different, but you should always have all three pieces in place.  For students, here’s what I would recommend you do with the money you get…

10% – Share
30% – Spending
60% – Saving

The biggest chunk of your money should be put towards savings since you’re probably saving for college, a car, your emergency fund, or all three.

Learning to handle your money may be one of the most important things you can do as a teenager.  Whether you’re rich or poor, you’ll always be dealing with money, so why not learn to handle it now.

For more information about how to handle your money, visit Grant Baldwin‘s student financial website, www.BrokePiggy.com.  You can also download his free, new e-book called “How To Go To College For FREE!“